The Continuing Cory Gardner Flip-Flop Watch

As I noted last week, Rep. Cory Gardner followed up on his decision to run for the U.S. Senate in Colorado with an expedient effort to disassociate himself from the “Personhood” initiative (declaring zygotes to be juridically human beings like me and you from the moment an egg has been fertilized) that has twice dismally failed in statewide ballot tests. It only makes sense politically, though it doesn’t reflect well on Gardner’s integrity that he’s flip-flopped on something that he and his antichoice allies have always thought of as literally a matter of human life or death.

But did he consummate his flip-flop? Not so, says the deeply annoyed head of the national group promoting “personhood” (per Brother Benen):

Representative Gardner, you’ve long said you stood in defense of unborn life from the moment of fertilization, including by co-sponsoring the federal “Life Begins at Conception Act.” That act would guarantee the rights and protections of personhood for all unborn children, just like the personhood bills here in the state of Colorado.

Trouble is, Gardner hasn’t taken himself off the congressional bill. So he’s now created a second flip-flop watch, presumably because he didn’t think anyone would notice. Well, they did, so Gardner gets to honk off antichoice activists again, or just live a political lie.

Support Nonprofit Journalism

If you enjoyed this article, consider making a donation to help us produce more like it. The Washington Monthly was founded in 1969 to tell the stories of how government really works—and how to make it work better. Fifty years later, the need for incisive analysis and new, progressive policy ideas is clearer than ever. As a nonprofit, we rely on support from readers like you.